Award for mental health team in city

A mental health team based on Wearside has won a prestigious award.

The Hopewood Park Crisis and Inpatient team beat off strong competition to win the Psychiatric Team of the Year Award.

The team from the Working Age Adult Service, which is made up of nurses, social workers, psychiatrists and pharmacy staff, was awarded the accolade in recognition of the pioneering approach taken in providing services.

In 2014, consultant psychiatrists from Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (NTW) developed an innovative method to roster medical staff in such a way that direct provision could be provided seven days per week.

Since it was implemented, the service has delivered improvements across a number of clinical areas, such as direct care, out of hours leadership, junior doctors’ supervision and satisfaction.